Crisis in Creamland
by Darkrealmist v.2
Summary: Asteroid Drillman attacks Creamland, putting the country on a collision course with the mainland! [Animeverse]


Crisis in Creamland

Author's Note: Set before (and ignores) episode 26 of _Stream_. In _EXE_, Creamland was an island north of Japan, and in _Stream_ it is a nation one country over from Sharo. This fic is my way of giving an in-universe reason for the retcon, which the anime never explained. Inspired by the first Mobile Suit Gundam SEED opening, "Invoke" by T.M. Revolution. Enjoy the story and R&R.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to or of the Rockman EXE series.

Summary:

Asteroid Drillman attacks Creamland, putting the country on a collision course with the mainland!

* * *

The island nation of Creamland was in crisis. A week and two nights prior, mysterious geological disturbances began cropping up throughout the kingdom, precipitating growing unrest. At first, the incidents were confined to minor fissures and tremors, seismic activity too small to cause any real injury. A broken wine glass here, a power outage there. However, the phenomenon was spreading, producing frequent low-magnitude earthquakes.

If Princess Pride did not act now, her subjects would be exposed to even greater risk.

Pride summoned Japan's resident Net Saviour, Hikari Netto, for help. Months ago, he'd saved her country when an undercover agent infiltrated her security force and disabled the firewall separating Creamland's core from the repressive Darkland regime. Netto was the champion she could depend on in her hour of need, even if he was only twelve.

Which isn't to imply Pride was some fragile tart always awaiting rescue. She could bring it in a fight. Her own entourage and advisors had to work around her independent streak. Just ask her manservant, who "accepted" the unfortunate role of her decoy while she snuck off, sightseeing dressed as a boy.

That experience taught her the finer minutiae of rulership. She couldn't be inflexible, stiffly adhering to centuries-old ceremony and a timetable planned out for her three years in advance. All parts being coequal, she couldn't neglect her monarchical duties either. Her freedom did not have to come at her people's expense.

Netto's plane arrived early in the morning, and after exchanging overdue hugs, the preteen and his eternal friend got cracking immediately.

By plugging in to the main computer and constructing an isometric map based on the vibrational data, Rockman and Knightman followed a backdoor network of Navi-made holes to the deepest, most heavily reinforced levels of Creamland's cyberspace.

There, they cornered the holes' digger.

"Whatever you're plotting, it ends here, Asteroid!"

"Hrm? I don't have time play with you!"

Compacting his head, arms, and legs into four augers, Drillman bored an escape.

"Where'd he go?" Rockman pointed his buster wildly.

"Tunnel Crush!"

Drillman flew up beneath the floor panels, shearing them apart. Knightman's superior armour bucked the attack, but Rockman took a full unguarded piercing.

"Royal Wrecking Ball!"

The Asteroid spun a semicircle to avoid Knightman's chained mace.

"Princess, a chip!"

"Coming your way! Battle Chip, Zeus Hammer! Slot-in!"

"You too, Rockman! Battle Chip, Recovery! Shotgun! Double slot-in!" Netto backed Pride up.

"Shotgun!"

With their foe momentarily immobilized by Rockman's counterstrike, Knightman heroically charged in wielding dual weapons, alternately bashing Drillman on his morning star's spikes and cudgelling the criminal's face with his Zeus Hammer.

Coughing up metal shavings, Drillman staggered. "Operator, th-the Dimensional Chip!"

His yet-to-be identified master substantialized a gigantic Drillman in the real world.

"Rubble! Rubble! Rubble!"

Insane in the mainframe, the psychopath boosted underwater, violently burrowing his central bit straight into the rock.

"Drill Driver!"

The island moved. Not its natural, insignificant pace. It was sailing over the ocean like a speedboat!

Pride contacted her right-hand woman. "Control, where are we headed?"

"Asteroid Drillman has entered the crust and is pushing Creamland towards the mainland! By current estimates, we'll collide in five minutes fifty-nine seconds!"

"Send a distress signal to the Ministry of Science! Alert them we require a Dimensional Area!"

Answering the emergency broadcast, the Science Labs reflected a beam off their satellite.

"Netto-kun, we've enclosed the entire island in a Dimensional Area! You must delete the Asteroid and slow Creamland's acceleration somehow! Hopefully, the Dimensional Area will be strong enough to protect the citizens and contain the damage!"

"I'm on it, Meijin-san!"

"No need for formalities!"

"Pride, I'm going after Drillman! Tell everyone to gather outside and brace for impact!"

"Count on it!"

Three Area Steals later, Drillman was staring down the barrel of a Cross Fused Netto and Rockman's Rock Buster.

"You again? Heh heh! When I'm done with you, you'll be a pile of dust! Triple Hole!"

R-Rockman Golem Punched the cave wall, burying the missiles and their shooter in the grave he himself dug.

"Netto-kun, hurry! Before we crash!" Rockman reminded him.

"Battle Chip! Poltergeist!"

A ghostly spirit eddied, igniting Rockman's fear and attracting the landmass into its eerie matrix.

Topside, civilians had carried out the princess' instructions and convened in the streets. Despite R-Rockman's intervention, the coast was fast approaching.

"GET DOWN!"

Creamland scraped against the continental shelf. The plates wedged through, grinding shockwaves across the ice, obliterating tundra as the isle was crudely incorporated into the uninhabited territory of Syacclea. Hailstones banged loose battered the Dimensional Area, but per Meijin's suspicions, the dome absorbed the worst of the devastation, redistributing the tectonic blowback along its boundary.

Netto resurfaced from the sea once the energy shield failed. "Everybody okay?"

"A few sprains, abrasions, and collapsed houses and trees. No reported fatalities. Seems we made it," Knightman detailed.

"No casualties? That's good."

"Pride-sama, we've apprehended the Asteroid's operator. He is a thief on the Net Police's wanted list, and has confessed to ordering Drillman to dig a passage under the castle to steal the Crown Jewels."

"All that trouble over jewels? How stupid!" Netto moaned. "What will you do? We can't exactly move Creamland back to where it used to be…"

"Take this rare opportunity to improve relations with Sharo? Sign a new trade pact? I don't know. What's important is my people are safe. We'll rebuild. I'm glad I called, Netto."

"Any time, Pride."


End file.
